A bougainvillea bower was dropping magenta flowers into the aqua pool and a short waterfall burst from rocks overhead.  OK, the rocks were fake, but we are terribly near Disney World, after all, in Orlando, FL.  Nevertheless, the water and colors together made me happy.

The American Pie Championship is being held here and the big pool at the convention center hotel invited me in.  It felt good to get moving, swimming in that blue pool after sampling…how many pies today?  Granted, I probably consumed less pie today than most of the 3 year olds there, but I tasted at least 12 pies.

Part of the championships is the pie festival, held nearby in a park.  I’m not much for crowds anymore, but this was worth it.  About 30,000 people descended on this park today and ate to their hearts’ delight (well, maybe to their mouths’ delight) as commercial pie companies shared their goods.  For a price of only $10 for adults and $5 for kids, people could walk up and sample every pie there.

The street was lined with pie pushers!  There were probably 10 different pie companies, all sharing individual servings of several different kinds of pie up to every comer.  Chocolate, cherry, pecan, apple, blueberry with no sugar added, lemon meringue, “Dixie” pie, Key Lime pie, peach pie, rhubarb, pumpkin, strawberry, you-name-it pie.

My favorite part was watching the baby strollers go by – full of babies and pie samples stacked up high enroute to a seat in the shade.  People enjoying pie and each other, making new friends over pie.  Even more beautiful than magenta bougainvillea in an aqua pool.

The ballroom opened before us under an arch of red, white and blue balloons:  cool and dark, quiet, looming large, with pistachio green walls.  This was the national pie baking championship? 

Ah!  My eyes adjusted to the light and there in front of us was a long, very long table draped in white, crowned with 425 pies.  Different  pies.  My mind started to warp.  Yes, I’d arrived in pie heaven.  These were the commercially produced pies, where duplicate pies were being judged in the ballroom next door, while the amateurs prepared for their contest.

And sure enough, there around the perimeter of the room were gleaming stainless steel ovens, with tables and bowls and rolling pins and bakers!  Bakers with red hats, bakers with blue aprons, bakers with mixers – mixers they’d traveled with from home – and favorite pie pans.  Dan brought his favorite cast iron pie skillet to bake in, all the way from Flint, Michigan.

Then I knew it was going to be good.  These are pie people, baking their hearts out.  Their stories are the best.  I’ll be reporting on them in the next few weeks, complete with pictures. 

For now, let me assure you that these are characters of the first order.  And they are here to compete!  They work on their recipes, tossing out whole pies that “aren’t good enough,” polishing their “product” until it’s ready to enter here.  They all want to win.  And yet, there’s a sense of community and camaraderie that is palpable.

Pie.  It brings us together.